Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

Polls Try To Gauge The Health Law’s Effects On Midterm Elections

A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that more people think the overhaul is a bad idea rather than a good one. Still, another poll concluded that voters in swing districts are more supportive of fixing it instead of repealing it.

The Wall Street Journal: Americans Want To Pull Back From World Stage, Poll Finds
But the president's standing remains perilously low just six months before the midterm congressional elections, and the poll was riddled with warning signs for his party. Support for his signature health-care law is improving slightly, a result that comes after the announcement that eight million people had picked insurance plans under the law. Still, support for the law remains weak, with 46% saying it is a bad idea and 36% saying it is a good one. "Clearly, the president has better news from his health-care law. But in general, that better news has still left people, by double-digit margins, saying it is a bad idea," said Mr. McInturff, the GOP pollster (Hook, 4/30).

NBC News: Poll: Slight Improvements But Tough Terrain Ahead For Democrats
Support for President Barack Obama and his health care law has increased in the weeks since the White House announced that eight million Americans have enrolled in the law’s health-insurance exchanges, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. But in spite of slight improvements from March, the poll still represent difficult terrain for Obama and the Democratic Party with six months to go until November’s midterm elections. Republican pollster Bill McInturff, who conducted the survey with Democratic pollster Peter Hart, says the results highlight the difference between “better” and “good” for Democrats (Murray, 4/29).

Los Angeles Times: Support Wanes For Repeal Of Obamacare, Surveys Suggest
Kaiser, which has surveyed public opinion about the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, each month, found impressions of it warming slightly from the low points of November through January. Overall, however, opinions of the law remain negative, with 46% now having a generally unfavorable view of it and 38% generally positive, the poll found. Those views are sharply divided by party, as has been the case since the law passed. A survey by Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg found a similar division on the question of fixing the law versus repealing it. Among likely voters in competitive congressional districts, 52% say the country should “implement and fix the healthcare reform law” while 42% say they want to “repeal and replace” it, he found (Lauter, 4/29).

Fox News: New Polls Show Public Skeptical About Impact Of ObamaCare
New polls continue to show the public is skeptical about the impact of ObamaCare, particularly when it comes to costs, something analysts have long warned about. “New ObamaCare policies cost about 35 percent more and that increase can come in the form of higher premiums, higher deductibles or narrower networks," said Robert Laszewski of Health Policy and Strategy Associates. In the latest Washington Post poll, 58 percent of consumers said the new law is causing higher costs while only 11 percent said it is reducing them (Angle, 4/30).

Politico: Steny Hoyer: Obamacare Not Election’s ‘Holy Grail’
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer predicted on Tuesday that Obamacare will not prove to be the massive political liability for Democrats that Republicans hoped ahead of the 2014 midterm elections. “I think health care at worst is going to be a neutral in this election,” said Hoyer (D-Md.) during a press conference. “This is not the holy grail of this election” (French, 4/29).

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